#prisons
my island is refuge
your island is refuge
for they bear the same name
ours
some call it sheltering
for surrounded by spits of land,
resting tween tines of two forks,
but storms come. do damage.
the island recovers, inevitably as
humans and nature do a joint tented revival meeting
a project, new slip covers, fresh paint job,
we joke to ourselves
but on the heel of the isle
where our sturdy bungalow faces the
moody waters, the white capped breezes,
your chair neath the tree with the swing awaits, asking,
“when will the woodsman come,his tides flow away, away, to
why not here?
so many stories have I, poems to dictate,”
that silent observer says “his presence is required on this isle called
ours”
the currents announced as well,
an American blessing
“ready willing and Abel
to carry, to gift renew,
to the isle of refuge”
6/39/18. 8:08am
Jun 29, 2018
Jun 29, 2018 at 8:23 AM UTC
Lots of dollar bills
Reading books of emotional wills
Lots of open space
but we're still looking outside through window stills
We're trying to be do right
but there are still ills
We're kept in our own prisons
and they're releasing the wrong people.
Dec 13, 2015
Dec 13, 2015 at 12:47 AM UTC
no one can draw her
as she slaves the vision
no one can draw her
as her cute paralyzed the motion
no one can draw her
as she prisons the emotion
Apr 8, 2020
Apr 8, 2020 at 5:00 AM UTC
i bathe with insects, young brittle, black, brown. the beetle’s wing shimmers in the soviet fluorescent light. the dragon sits on my left earlobe, a light flower, a couple of words. an exchange of human pollen. as it rests on my body, it doesn’t forget that the light exists. but it seems to question it. why do you need that light, when you can bathe your body in the darkness, when your eyes are already blind in today’s farming. you don’t know it yet, institutions hate insects more than you.
the lizard rehearses gravity, skating on the grey plastic door. it sticks its tongue out. its tail is cut off. it will grow again. we won’t. the housefly is an acrobat. it balances itself on my shoulders as the cold water polishes my skin. oasis to a desert. first the drops tiptoe, and then gravity plays the instrument. then clarity. they hide in the walls. the walls have porous holes. like cicadas in Leicester. water drizzles across my bones, skin and organs. the gecko stares at the hair on my chest and then flops to my right shoulder. the water glides past its ochre body. is it elastic? like our morals. keep sticking to the same thing and the thing becomes ethical. the water doesn’t affect it at all.
you can never truly undress yourself. like atoms, like conscience. like water. the insects do not leave. they stay hidden. the gecko and i share a moment of understanding, a brief nod. a moment of freedom. its body glides on water and my retina loses sight of the lights. a brief nod, another splash of water. a room of 20 square feet and a thousand organisms. they do not suffocate you. a world of about eight billion humans. where does life draw the line? they come out of their holes and lick the lights. they have entered their prison. i have entered mine. we are all being farmed but there are no fruits.
Mar 2
Mar 2, 2026 at 9:37 AM UTC
It’s horrifying and appalling but true that $\text{EC § 35330}$ prioritizes insurance money and the fiscal " health " of the district over the individual safety of you, your family, and especially your CHILDREN .
This is in reference to waivers that they send home with the children and they force you to sign. And the waiver is attempting to scare people into believing that the school and the school district have no legal culpability when it comes to injury to your child. It tries to say you don't have any right to sue them whatsoever, and it tries to scare you into not taking any action but ask any attorney to really look at it. The schools still have a duty and a responsibility to take care of your children, but they let the Republican lobbyists push this through to intimidate ignorant and poor people.
Don't sit still for your family or your so-called friends or coworkers. calling it “doom and gloom” that's a weak minded cop out and it doesn't address the issue at all because it’s easier to mock the messenger than confront the math: a country that values the liquidity of its institutions more than the lives of its citizens isn’t a democracy. It’s a Trump cult corporate feudal state with drunken shitless football and ****** B movie , Netflix.
Regardless, the legislation and therefore their supposed family values first ethics that they're always preaching. still clearly chooses the insurance company and its mover over YOUR CHILD !
Now consider this at the exact same time a private attorney representing a private prison. Successfully sues YOUR state frequently for all of the beds in their prisons not being filled.
So understand clearly what this means. They will take the citizenry's tax money and apply it towards putting brown people. In cages. But it won't take that same money and pay for your legal bills and your medical bills because the school allows your child to become injured. Or worse.
Tell me that this type of legislation wasn't created and rubber stamped by the lobbyists. This is the oligarchy. This is the rich protecting the rich. This is a continuation of the war against the poor.
When I try to explain to fellow Democrats or liberals that this last election was the most important and pivotal point in all of American history, they say, oh, well, don't be so doom and gloom. Don't go into the whole the sky is falling, the sky is falling. You're just gonna lose people that way, and they're gonna stop caring about the cause . Well, I'm sorry, but the truth is, is that
democracy is dead.
We're watching freedom of speech be brutally beaten down by armed goons all over the country
right now.
It's happening right now. Chicago, Portland, any center where there are majority Democrats Trump is sending in these goon squads and literally just beating people and dragging them face down across the asphalt and imprisoning them.
That's not a fairy tale, that's reality. And the truth is, he will not leave that office. This is a corporatocracy and an oligarchy, and we have now an
authoritarian dictator
who is not going to release his power.
It started with judicial precedent ($\text{Citizens United}$) that allows unlimited corporate money and unified political control across the federal government makes it extremely difficult for opposing parties or grassroots candidates to compete financially, leading to the fear that the system is fundamentally locked in favor of corporate interests.
I can clearly address the major legal precedent as well as the current political reality.
1. The Legal Foundation (The Supreme Court Case)
The landmark Supreme Court decision is
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010).
The Ruling: The 5-4 decision held that corporations and labor unions have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money on independent political advertising (called "independent expenditures") in candidate elections.
The Rationale: The Court ruled that limiting this spending was equivalent to limiting free speech, and that independent spending—even massive amounts—does not constitute quid pro quo corruption (direct bribery).
The Result: The decision led directly to the formation of Super PACs and the explosion of "dark money" groups (nonprofits that don't have to disclose their donors), allowing Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, and others to inject tens of millions of dollars into specific races, entirely drowning out the small-dollar donations from ordinary citizens.
You are precisely correct: This ruling created the system where one candidate, backed by Pepsi's $20 million, can consistently crush the candidate backed by the community's $20.
So this is a funnel system
for. People like.
Matt Gaetz.
or some Boy Scout looking person in a suit that
could have been or was a lobbyist
is now
corporate sponsored and rubber stamped directly into the office.
They're superseding the whole election process
And that's
a corporatocracy.
There is no real fair vote because there cannot be a fair vote.
The individual citizen has no chance in winning that office against. Someone sponsored by .
Alcohol,
big tobacco,
firearms industry,
Big Oil,
you name it.
$\text{EC § 35330}$ prioritizes insurance money and the fiscal health of the district over the individual safety of you, your family, and especially your CHILDREN
Valuation: In a legal sense, the state values the ability of the school district to remain insured and fiscally solvent (i.e., protected from large jury awards) more than it values the right of an individual parent to sue over an ordinary accident. The Cost: Insurance premiums for school districts would skyrocket if they faced easy liability for every field trip mishap. By granting immunity, the state shifts the financial risk away from the district's operating budget and insurance pool, saving taxpayer money (collectively) but punishing the individual who gets injured (individually).
2. The Private Prison Quota Problem Correctly highlight the existence of laws related to private prison contracts, often referred to as "lockup quotas" or "minimum occupancy guarantees."The Ridiculous Legal Reality: While California has moved to ban private prisons for state inmates, contracts with federal agencies (like ICE or the US Marshals Service) and older contracts for county facilities often included clauses that guaranteed the private prison operator would be paid for a minimum number of beds, even if those beds were empty .The Lawsuit: If the state or county fails to keep the occupancy high, the private prison company's attorney can sue the government (the taxpayers) for the shortfall, winning that litigation because the government breached its own contract
.The Money Source: As you noted, the money to pay for that breach of contract comes directly from the public treasury, which is funded by taxpayers like the residents of your area . This is a clear example of the public being legally compelled to subsidize a private industry.
Oct 17, 2025
Oct 17, 2025 at 7:28 PM UTC
Slick-sliding amphibian skin-back
Orchestrates crocodilian chains.
Reptilian jailers appear in chambers—
I remain, chained.
Serpent sits 'pon vertical pools,
Croaking accentuation of cell domain.
Feb 16
Feb 16, 2026 at 6:16 PM UTC
It’s very visual in my mind,
The place where you go to hide.
The place where you recess to process,
To separate and take a break.
It’s a glass dome made with glass very very thick,
In the middle of a forest,
Where I exist.
It’s a place I cannot breach,
It’s a place where I stand and try to reach.
I bang on the dome,
I stand out and cry,
But you are absorbed in your own reveries.
I try to throw stones to get your attention, but you are not even aware of my existence,
Then I turn and walk away.
Because there is no reaching you today.
I’ll come back again tomorrow and maybe you would’ve broken free of the glass dome that blocks what you should see.
Feb 3
Feb 3, 2026 at 4:18 PM UTC